Elastic foundation garment



Patented June 5, 1951 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELASTIC FOUNDATION GARMENT Emil D. Kattermann, Dover, N. J., assignor to Swiss Knitting Company, Dover, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 16, 1950, Serial No. 168,531

This invention relates to elastic girdles and other elastic foundation garments.

"art as Lastex, is formed of an elastic filament or rubber core which has spirally wound thereon an inelastic textile covering thread. However,

due to limitations in the tensile strength of said elastic yarn, it was necessary to combine therewith an inelastic textile thread in order to provide the proper tensile strength in the resulting elastic fabric. Heretofore, for example, in the manufacture of knit elastic fabric, the composite elastic thread is knit under tension together with an inelastic thread forming loops each consisting of elastic thread and inelastic thread. Upon release of the tension, the elastic thread contracts and the inelastic thread of each loop puckers or gathers and adds bulk to the fabric.

Moreover, when the loops are extended, in the stretching of the fabric, the extensibility of the elastic thread portion of each loop is limited to the extended unpuckered condition of the inelastic thread thereof. For this and other reasons, it has not been possible heretofore, to provide a girdle which when off the wearer is of very small size and which, although of said small size, can be stretched sufficiently to fit the wearer and also 4 Claims. (Cl. 66-176) Fig. 2 is a front perspective view illustrating the girdle of Fig. 1 on the wearer; and

Fig. 3 is a detailed enlargement of the brokenline portion of Fig. 2, illustrating, on a magnified scale, the open-mesh condition of the fabric when the girdle is on the wearer.

Briefly described, foundation garments made according to my invention are unusually small off the wearer, especially in their circumferential dimensions, in comparison with garments as heretofore made, having regard to the same wearer-size and the same figure-constricting power. For example, a size 28 girdle of the present inventionhas an off-the-wearer circumferential dimension of only about 12 inches, and yet is stretchable to fit the wearer comfortably and with proper body-constricting power. A concomitant characteristic of the girdle of this invention is that while the fabric is of close mesh in the relaxed condition thereof, 1. e., elf the wearer, said fabric has a distinctive open mesh which is light in weight and of minimum bulk I both on and off the wearer, and comfortably cool when worn.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a girdle, in flat condition, embodying the present invention;

condition when the garment is on the wearer.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the present invention is illustrated and described herein in connection with a girdle [0, although it will be understood that it is not limited thereto and that it may be used with other types of foundation garments, such as, for example and not by way of limitation, corsets, corselets, pantigirdles, etc. g The girdle II] is of the two-way stretch type being resiliently stretchable both circumferen tially and longitudinally of the wearer and, as here shown, comprises a front part or panel l2 and a rear part or panel l4 secured together at their lateral edges in any suitable way, as by the stitching l6. Front panel I2 is provided, at the upper end thereof, with a waist band portion l8, and, at the lower end thereof, with a garter-belt portion or cuff 20 which is provided with the depending front garter tabs 22. Rear panel I4 is provided, at the upper end thereof, witha waist band portion or cuff 24, and, at the lower end thereof, with a garter-belt portion or' cuff 26 v which is provided with the depending rear garters 28. Said portions I8 and 24 together comprise the waist band 30 of the girdle and said portions 20 and 26 together comprise the garter-belt 32 of the girdle. As usual parts 30 and 32 have an easier stretch than the main body-encircling part of the girdle. The panels [2 and 14 are formed of the knit fabric 34 which may be of any type customarily used in foundation garments. In the present embodiment, fabric 34 is preferably a rib-knit fabric and, although each panel is preferably formed entirely of elastic knit fabric, as

shown, it will be understood that it is within the scope of the invention that only predetermined portions of the garment be formed of elastic fabric and other portions thereof be formed of other types of fabric.

Pursuant to the present invention, the fabric 34 is knitted only of elastic yarn 36 and does not contain any inelastic yarn except the covering thread on the rubber filaments of the elastic yarn,

and said yarn 36 comprises an elastic filament o1? ments. The nylon covering 40 increases the tensile strength of the elastic yarn 36 over that of elastic yarn heretofore used and I have found that this increased tensile strength is sufilcient to eliminate the need for the inelastic yarn .heretofore used in forming the elastic yarn. Due to the former use of the inelastic yarn in foundation garment elastic fabrics, in order toprovide the proper tensile. strength for said garments, a really small oif-the-body garment was not possible. However, by eliminating the inelastic yarn from the elastic fabric 34, the stretchability of the latter is not limited by the presence of any inelastic yarns, and the bulk of the latter, when off the body, is not increased by the puckering of the inelastic yarn, as heretofore. In addition, the elimination of inelastic yarn from fabric 34 decreases the weight of the girdle, and the nylon covering provides the additional advantages of a fast drying fabric and a more durable fabric.

More specifically, but without narrow limitation, the presently preferred elastic yarn. 36.

' formed of a natural rubber core 38 and a nylon covering 40, has a stretch of substantially 290%. In other words, a one inch length of yarn 36 will stretch to substantially 3.9 inches without breaking and without losing its elasticity. This degree of stretchability may be varied, as desired, within certain limits between 275% and 325%. Due to the stretchability of the nylon elastic yarn, the girdle H] can be made to be of a very small size when off the wearer. For example, assuming that thegirdle illustrated in Fig. 1 is of a medium size, being intended for a wearer having a waist size of 28inches, when off the body, it will be about 12 inches in circumference at its maximum circumferential dimension, and will be about 1.2 inches long for said waist size. In the foundation garments or girdles heretofore made, having both elastic and non-elastic yarns, the Width or circumferential dimension thereof, off the body, was about twice that of a garment, pursuant to the present invention, for the same body size.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the loops 42 of the knit fabric are formed only by the elastic thread 36. Consequently the extensibility of the loops are limited only by the stretchability'of the elastic thread 36' and not by the presence of a companion inelastic thread, as in the prior art. Moreover, it will be ap parent that,'when said loops contract in the untensioned or ofi-the-body condition of the gir l the loops will collapse without causing the puckering or gathering thereof resulting from the presence of the inelastic yarn of the prior art. In said collapsed condition, as illustrated in Fi 1, said loops form a substantially non-porous tightly-knit fabric. It will also be understood that due to the great extensibility of loops 42, formed only of elastic yarn, and due to the elimination of the added thickness of an additional inelastic yarn, the resultant mesh of fabric 34, in the extended condition thereof, defines large open-work portions between the yarns 36 thereby providing a cooler garment than was possible with the use of inelastic yarns in the elasticfabric heretofore used. It may be noted that in knitting the elastic fabric of the present invention, the elastic yarn or thread 36 is fed to the needles of the knitting machine with only such tension as is necessary to the knitting operation. .It will be understood that while panels [2 and M are shown formed of separate pieces, they may be formed in one integral piece, and further it will be understood that the girdle may beproduced ona circular knitting machine, if desired, so that it is devoid of longitudinal seams. Also, instead of using nylon for the covering of the elastic thread, any yarn which is the substantial equivalent of nylon in tensile strength may be used. Accordingly, as used in the claims, the term nylon is to be understood as including not only nylon specifically but also the equivalents of nylon.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the present invention without departing from .the underlying idea or principles of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A foundation garment having a body encircling part comprising elastic fabric knit entirely from elastic yarn formed of an elastic rubber core and a covering thread of nylon spirally wound thereon, said elastic yarn having a stretch of between about 275% and about 325%, the circumferential size of said body encircling part, in the relaxed off-the-wearer condition thereof, being not greater than one half of the circumferential measurement of the corresponding part of the wearer of a corresponding conventional size.

' 2. A foundation garment having a body en circlin part comprising elastic rib knit fabric knit entirely from elastic yarn formed of an elastic rubber core and a covering thread of :nylon spirally wound thereon, said elastic y'arn' having a stretch of between about 275% and about 325%, the circumferential size of said bo y encircling part, in the relaxed .ofithewearer condition thereof, being'not greater than one half'of the circumferential measurement of the corresponding part of the wearer of a corresponding conventional size.

3. ,A foundation garment having a body encirclin part comprising elastic fabric knit en- .tirely from elastic yarn formed of an elastic rubber core and a covering thread of nylon spirally wound thereon, said elastic yarn hav ing a stretch of about 290%, the circumferential size of said body encircling part, in the IBr 5 nylon spirally wound thereon, said elastic yarn having a stretch of about 290%, the circumferential size of said body encircling part, in the relaxed oiT-the-wearer condition thereof, being not greater than one half of the circumferential measurement of the corresponding part of the wearer of a corresponding conventional size.

EMIL D. KATTERMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Sanders Apr. 21, 1936 Chittenden et a1. Nov. 17, 1936 Kennedy Dec. 17, 1940 Martin June 2, 1942 Lochhead Oct. 13, 1942 Schneller III Nov. 22, 1949 Braun et a1. Feb. 21, 1950 

